Brand New
by Bloodcrie
Summary: FFVIII Highschool Fiction. Squall comes from an abusive home, and hangs out with a bunch of rebelling misfits. Happy and ordinary Rinoa comes to Balamb High, And finds Leonhart's gang captivating. What will happen when two forces collide? R&R!
1. Fresh Start

(I DO NOT own Final Fantasy VIII, I give full credit to Square and respective owners)

**Authors Note: **This seriously isn't my usual kind of style. The entire...Final Fantasy VIII story line is just about to be totally modded into a highschool fiction. And I'm warning any readers...it may be...well...we'll just have to see I guess. Most of my works revolve around many dark issues, But I decided to take a break

from that and write a seriously un-original highschool based concept. I guess I've just watched way too many teen movies...Hee hee. I would

really appreciate some reviews! so far my other works are...colder than a meat locker when it comes to reviews, but, I'm begging any readers

out there to please review this one! even if you don't like it! please do let me know! And I will truly appreciate you for it! any whoo...here goes!

**Brand New - written by bloodcrie.**

The morning began like that of any other. Sunshine. Through the window. The window of the perfect house (mansion rather) into the perfect room. Shining onto the perfect face of none other than Rinoa Caraway Heartilly. She opened her eyes to a brand new day. She got up and dressed into her brand new school uniform. And in exactly thrity minutes time, she would begin the brand new school year.

"Morning precious" General Caraway, aka. her dad said looking up from the newspaper at his daughter with pride.

Rinoa smiled, "morning daddy" she cooed before ducking quickly into the bathroom. The girl closed her eyes for a breif moment, her nerves slightly taking the better of her. She took the hair brush and began combing it through her long, raven hair. She gazed into the mirror, not really knowing what more to do with herself. _A little make-up perhaps? _she pondered for a moment. But..._School rules..._she decided not to. 'I'm a senior now' she pondered aloud, 'no one will push me around ever again.'

"Honey, aren't you going to grab some breakfast? if you don't leave soon you're going to be late" her father called.

Rinoa sighed, she pulled her gray, knitted school vest over the long sleeve white shirt. Then fixed up the red tie. The rest of the uniform consisted of a tartan skirt, white knee high socks, and black leather shoes. Rinoa decided to leave her hair down as she left the bathroom. Pacing back into the kitchen, she grabbed her school bag and kissed her father on the cheek. _New school. No one knows you here. No one can say anything about you anymore...this is your chance...to fit in._

"See yah dad" she smiled, heading quickly for the door.

"What about breakfast?" he called after her.

"I'm not hungry...I'll grab something big for lunch, I promise" she said. Rolling her eyes.

"Have a good day sweetie."

_Yeah right. _She thought as she shut the door behind her and headed off for school.

-----

Squall Leonhart rolled out of bed. Hitting the floor with an un-characteristic thud, followed by a long groan.

He looked up at his bedstand, in fifteen minutes, the new school year began, and Squall was still in his skull covered boxer shorts, complete with a crazy mop of messy hair on his head. He gathered up his school uniform from off the floor. It had been there since last year. Still un-washed. He scrambled into it quickly. White Long sleeve shirt, gray, knitted, v-neck vest, red tie, dark gray pants and a pair of converse lace up's. _Screw the rules _he snickered, as he slipped on his ring and put his Lionheart chain around his neck. He grabbed his bag and ran downstairs.

No breakfast, No 'Goodmorning sis'

He slammed the front door and ran out to his car. His silent pride and joy, a black ford mustang. He jumped in the car and sped off towards school. His heavy metal music blasting out the open windows. He ran his hands through his long mattered brunette hair in attempt to flatten it. But is was in a mess of impossible crazy layers. He sighed in defeat and starting wondering about a year he was already not looking forward to.

Putting it frankly, Squall was over school. He was over the sluts and absolute morons that he had to put up with around him. Last year, he had gone looking for trouble. Picking fights whenever possible, pissing of teachers, and just pulling stupid, stupid pranks. Still, he hadn't recieved the response he was craving. Expulsion.

He pulled up in the school parking lot with a screech, jumped out of his most prized possession and locked it.

The jocks and cheerleaders were already gathering around the car park, in their little superficial groups. Squall frowned and leaned against his car, waiting for his friends, though he doubted they'd even show up for first day. The sun beamed down on him, and he started to regret even showing up. _I could always just go and hang out at the park..._he began to think. A car pulled up beside his. And as Squall watched one of his most hated teachers get out of it. He couldn't help but smirk. He knelt down and picked up the biggest near by rock he could grab. And without thinking twice, Squall hurled it at Mr. Fawcetts expensive looking car. Needless to say, the window was broken.

"SQUALL! LEONHART! HEAD OFFICE! NOWWWW!" Mr. Fawcett roared. His face exploding into an un-natural shade of red.

Squall chuckled quietly as the angry man grabbed the back of Squall's shirt and 'escorted' him to the front off.

Putting it frankly, Squall was over school. This year would surely be the year he would recieve what he was craving.

Expulsion.

------

Rinoa walked into the head office.

The receptionist lady greeted her with a...well not-so-friendly smile. "New student I take it?" the lady sighed looking at Rinoa from her laptop.

"Ah...yeah...Rinoa Caraway Heartilly" Rinoa replied as pleasantly as possible. Just then, an angry looking man, literally dragging a male student came barging into the office. 'This is bullshit, it was an accident, I swear' she heard the student growling. They went past very quickly and disappeared behind a door that was quickly slammed shut after them. Rinoa noticed the boy had that...well defiant look about him. _ Rebel _she thought to herself. _He's kinda...cute too._

"Rinoa Heartilly, here's your class schedule for this semester" the receptionist said, handing her the yellow sheet of paper.

Rinoa left quickly, and found her allocated locker, where she put her bag and gathered up what books she needed for her first 2 periods. Which was literature. Her favorite. She still had five minutes to go before home room started. She watched the other groups of people going by her down the hall. Friends. She felt the nervousness come over her again, she looked at her timetable, and headed for her first class in room LV1. And much to her relief it was easy enough to find. She walked into the room with lowered eyes, only two other students, both girls and the teacher were in the class room. This too was a relief.

"Hi, I'm Rinoa...um...new student" Rinoa said forcing a smile at the teacher.

He gave her a nod. "Welcome to Balamb Highschool. I'm Mr.Shiro"

"This desk here is free!" said one of the girls, waving her hand. Rinoa looked over, she was a really pretty girl, long blonde hair covered her beautiful face in long strands around her blue eyes. She wore thick eyeliner and matching dark red lipstick to suit the look. Rinoa smiled and sat down on the desk beside her. The blonde gave a slight smile.

"Hey I'm Quistis" she said.

"Hey! Hey! Heeeey!" the other girl chirped, she was sitting on the other side of the blonde. "I'm Selphie."

This girl had shoulder-length brunette hair that curled and flicked out at the ends. Her eyes were shimmering emerald in colour, she too wore eye-liner, alot less dramatic though. And pinkish lip gloss. Her uniform didn't even look like school uniform. She wasn't wearing the knitted vest, instead her shirt was un-buttoned and revealing a black shirt that she wore underneath. Her skirt seemed shorter than any of the other girls, and she wore high lace up sneakers instead of school shoes. As well as loads of various jewelery.

Rinoa felt immediatily out of place. "Hey...I'm Rinoa, nice to meet you both" she smiled frantically.

Just then three guys ran into the classroom. Rinoa reckonized one of them to be the same boy she saw in the office earlier. The handsome rebel guy. He was with two others, One with long redish-brown hair that was tied up loosely. Messy bangs of hair fell around his face making his green eyes twice as striking. The other, had short and spikey blonde hair, he wasn't even wearing a uniform, instead a black shirt and dark demin jeans. The three boys took there seats. And Rinoa tried hard to keep her eyes from the brunette. He was gorgeous.

The teacher gave a small laugh. "Glad you three decided to join us."

"Well, were all here" the teacher added, sitting down on a desk in the front of the room.

"You're shitting me right? there's only like...2 of us here!" the spikey haired blonde exclaimed.

"Six of us, Seifer" Quistis corrected him. He turned around and shot her a look.

"Literature isn't very popular among the study body" the teacher sighed.

"Fuck them" the brunette guy spoke. Rinoa could feel herself melting...his voice was...so...

"Squall! mind your language! remember what we spoke about last year..." Mr.Shiro said whilst rolling his eyes.

_Squall. His name is Squall. He is so damn cute. _"We have a new student" Selphie announced, everyone turned and looked her Rinoa. She sank down into her seat a little. Feeling as though their eyes were burning holes through her. Especially _his. _Those eyes...were...so piercing. Cold, blue, steely eyes.

"Hi..." Rinoa squeeked.

-----

Squall turned back to the teacher.

His gaze averting from hers and back to his desk. _Another little princess preppy _he thought. Well honestly, that was the exact impression she gave. Her hair...it was so silky and long...and perfect. It hung straight down her back, and around her shoulders, a small fringe hovering above her soft brown eyes. And her peachy clean skin. Squall didn't even give it a second thought. He knew she'd be another 'miss cheerleader', hanging out with the jocks. His only thoughts were _what the hell is she doing in my literature class...? preps don't do literature..._

She was pretty though. He had to give her that. He grabbed a pen out and started scribbling on the desk.

Mr.Shiro was writing some notes on the blackboard. He was a pretty cool guy. Infact, he was the only teacher Squall and his friends didn't give any trouble to. Everyone in this room, were people Squall considered as friends. Well...with the exception of _princess _of course. But everyone in this room, were the people the rest of the school considered to be misfits. Or anti-them.

Irvine leaned over to Squall and gave him a nudge. "She's pretty cute aye...the new girl" he whispered.

Squall pushed Irvine off, everyone knew he was the school biggest womanizer. Well except for Selphie of course. (his girlfriend) they'd been dating for nearly a year now. Breaking up occassionally. Over the oddest things. But they were really happy together. And Squall considered them to be two of his greatest friends. And that's exactly what they were. Quistis and Seifer were the same. Except they weren't together or anything like that. But Squall thought that they might as well have been. They argued like an old married couple. But once again...everyone in this room were Squall's greatest friends. Again except _her_. And minus Zell, who was in gym class right now. Probably picking a fight with some random jock.

Squall silently laughed at the thought. He finished his drawing of a lion on his desk. The same lion he wore on the chain around his neck and on his ring.

Squall took out a notepad and began copying down the notes from the board. It was just a breifing on this years topics.

He could hear the girls chattering in the back row. He could even hear _her_...answering Selphie's and Quistis's never ending questions. He frowned silently, knowing that after she would start hanging around with the prissy people, she would look upon everyone in this room as dirt. Squall shook the thought from his mind and leaned over to Seifer. "Whats the plans for after school?" he asked, Seifer shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

"I dunno...The girls don't wanna cause any trouble on the first day so...might as well just have a few drinks at the park" Seifer repiled casually.

Squall gave a small nod.

"Is it just me or does the new chick look like a good candidate for another cheerleader?" Seifer smiled.

Squall chuckled. "Haha...yeah she'll make a great slut."

-----

The bell rang and Rinoa literally ran to the girls bathroom.

She shut the door to one of the cubicles behind her, and leaned against the wall. Her heart pounded. _How dare he...? that...that fucking asshole... _She'd overheard Squall and Seifers conversation in the middle of class. And it had ruined an otherwise perfect start to her school year. _Cheerleader? slut? _she wanted to scream out in rage. A few stray tears rolled down her cheeks. _It doesn't matter where I go...I don't fit in._

She wiped her face. And decided to try not to think. Quistis and Selphie had been really nice...

But now she just wanted to stay away from the whole group.

Rinoa got out of the toilet and walked by the mirror. A group of girls stood fixing their already perfect hair. "Who are you?" one of them asked, "I've never seen you around before...you're pretty" a blonde girl said in a barbie doll voice. "Rinoa..I'm new."

"Oooh, come sit with us at the lunch table" another of the girls said, wrapping her arm around Rinoa's.

They began walking until they reached the caferteria. Rinoa felt clueless.

"So, like, tomorrow is auditions for cheerleading, you should totally try-out" the blonde exclaimed. The group sat down at one of the tables.

"I'm Gwen by the way, you should hang out with us, your pretty" she went on.

The other girls all nodded. And said in union: "totally."

_Okay...this is so weird. _Rinoa thought. _Hyne save me. _Rinoa watched helplessly as Squall and his gang walked by, Quistis and Selphie eyed her with disgust. And Rinoa was positive that it had given Squall great satisfaction that he was right about her.

-----

So. It was a bit long and boring...I know! I know! I PROMISE the next chapter will be nicer. Please, do review and I will love you for it! I will even credit you for it if you wish! YUSH! that's exactly how desperate I am for readers to review! Oooh and I must also shamelessly ask any readers (who have some time on there hands) to check out my fiction 'The Sixth Station' I wrote this one with my buddy Lizzy and she would love to get some reviews! so please check it out if yah have time! anyway, I gotta run! don't wanna miss my day time soapies! seeyah soon!


	2. Anything to Belong

_My name is Rinoa. Rinoa Heartilly. Otherwise, Rinoa 'Caraway' Heartilly._

_And well...I'm your average Highschool girl._

_I like prissy primpin myself whenever I can. I like movies. I like to watch movies at the cinema with friends, popcorn and a jumbo sized coca-cola. But I also like staying in and renting movies. But I prefere to watch rented titles with a guy...on my sofa. And just make out. I like my dog, his name is Angelo and I love to take him on walks. I walk him because I want to stay fit. I want to have a figure. I like to write, draw and well...just spend time in my room. I love music...just any music really. Whatever is good. I think alot. About things that have happened to me. Like how I lost my mother when I was only five years old. I fight with my father too, then act like nothing happened the next day. I've been down before. I've been down and kicked in the ribs before. I've been down and kicked in the ribs before than THEN spat on. Yeah...so I guess you've figured, I've had my ass kicked by other kids. _

_I'm just your average Highschool girl._

----

Recess ended in a blur, and before Rinoa knew it, the school day had ended too.

She found herself outside her fathers perfect mansion in tears. First day and she already hated it. And couldn't exaclty figure out why either. She was in. In with the in-crowd. A couple of the guys had even invited her back to their places when school had ended. She knew what that would have lead to...

The hot summer sun cascaded down on her like a firaga spell.

A black car came screeching down the road and it pulled up a few houses down from hers.

Rinoa could have died when she saw who jumped out of the car.

Squall and his gang. And they were quickly pacing over towards her.

"Hey Rinoa! hows it goin' with the slut gang?" Quistis asked casually, chewing on a pink piece of bubblegum.

Squall stood close beside Quistis, his calm blue eyes lowered, the others were looking in all directions. Just not at Rinoa. Rinoa could feel a rage start building up inside the pit of her stomach. _What the hell do these people want from me?_

"Hi Quistis, Hi everyone..." Rinoa mumbled headed quickly for the front door of her house.

"Can we come in?" Quistis called after her.

Rinoa turned quickly. Thinking carefully for a moment about what she was about to say.

_Dad's car isn't out front...so I guess he must be out...so...I guess it's okay to have a few friends over...wait...friends? Oh Hyne.._

"ummm...okay...sure" Rinoa smiled.

----

Squall swallowed hard at what he was seeing...well more overly what he was _feeling_.

Her room was like...well he couldn't exactly find a word for it.

The double bed was made from expensive looking pine that matched her drawers and dresser.

There was girl clutter everywhere, make-up, face creams and different kinds of soaps. But everything was in place. Perfect. Clean.

And...well...pink.

Quistis passed Squall the already lit ciggerette and he took a huge drag. He watched her from the corner of his eye...she just seemed so out of place.

Squall started to get a feeling inside...and he just felt like he wanted to shout out...when Quistis wrapped her arm around his as the group all sat around on Rinoa's bedroom floor. The man flinched at the un-wanted contact. But he remained entirely silent. Squall took another puff then passed it along to Irvine, who then offered it to Rinoa. Squall watched.

"Oh..no thanks...I don't-" Rinoa began.

"Girl...are you like, normal?" Selphie almost screeched.

Squall felt as though he wanted to slap her for that. _what the hell is wrong with me? why do I care what Selphie says? Rinoa isn't even my friend, so why the fuck should I care if she feels out of place? she is just a cheerleader slut after all..wait...I still feel really bad about that..._

Quistis laughed as removed her hand from Squall's_. much to his relief. _She reached into her pocket and offered Rinoa a different ciggerette.

"Try this one Rin, I promise you'll like it" Quistis chuckled.

_Oh Hyne Quistis...no way...don't give Rinoa a joint..._

"Rinoa" Squall interjected. "You...don't have to...you don't have to do anything you don't want to do.."

------

Her eyes locked with hers.

She wanted nothing more than to prove him wrong about her.

_I can fit in with them. If I just...forget for a while...everything...I can just forget. I can fit in._

She took a puff. No regrets right? And the world around her slowly began to distort into some kind of wonderful. She was no longer mindful of the amount of noise everyone was making, nor did she care about the mess the group had made of her room.

"So...Rinny, what'cha like doing for fun?" Quistis laughed, as she watched Selphie rolling around on the floor making faces.

"I don't know!" Rinoa said roaring in laughter.

"Hahah...hyne, I thought you'd say...shopping or make-overs..." Quistis chuckled in response.

"Oh yeah! I LOVE doing those things!" Rinoa exclaimed, trying to look as serious as possible.

"Cool...so let's go shopping then" Quistis beamed, taking Rinoa by the wrist and whistling at Selphie. "C'mon girls, Guys time to leave."

-----

_What the fuck is Quistis thinking? _Squall thought as the gang ran down the stairs of Rinoa's beautiful mansion home. _Smoking joints with her to initiate her into our group? _

"Squall, Honey, can you guys walk home so I can take the car?" Quistis asked.

_Honey? what the hell? what's with this shit..._ "Quistis, come here a minute would you" Squall growled, dragging her away from the others.

"Just what in Hyne's name do you think you're doing? doping her up on drugs? to MAKE her fit in with us?" Squall roared as quietly as possible.

"Ooooh, baby, you know I love it when you're all fiesty like this...maybe we can meet back at my house later tonight.." Quistis said in her best seductive tone. She pulled him against her, and breathed gently on the side of his neck. Her hands ran down his arms, as her lips began carefully brushing against his neck.

"Quistis-" Squall began, shoving her away from him gently. "Why are you doing this? were not even..."

"Fuck you" she spat turning and walking quickly away from him. "Selphie, let's go, were walking."

Selphie staggered over to her friends side, still giggling madly. "Rinny are you coming?" Selphie asked as she locked arms with Quistis, who was still looking clearly upset.

_Rinoa...don't go...please...just don't go with her..._

"Count me in!" Rinoa grinned, walking away with the other two girls.

"Awww man!" Zell groaned, "What're we gonna do now Squall?" Irvine added.

Squall silently paced over to his car and jumped in. "You guys can walk home, later" Squall mused, shoving the keys in the ignition and speeding off back home.

-----

_My name is Squall. Squall Leonhart._

_I guess you couldn't exactly call me your 'average' highschool student._

_But really, there's nothing too abnormal about me. Most guys my age drink, smoke and get stoned or high. But unlike some of my friends, that's not all there is to me. I like spending time with a person, just one on one. Don't the wrong idea or anything...but I mean, I guess I just prefere it that way than huge groups. Then again, I do like my friends. Well sometimes..._

_I hate 'cool' kids. Kids who all get together and decide on whats cool and what isn't. Kids who all wear the same labels, pants, shoes, hair styling products...underwear for all I know. They even begin to think the same and lose sight of themselves. And then they make the lives other people who aren't like them hell. There are alot of kids like that at my highschool. I give them, and authority as much shit as I can...hoping that maybe someday I can escape this deadbeat shithole._

_I like loud music. Music with meaning. Angry music. Music that makes me think. Because I like thinking...lately I keep thinking about this new girl...and how for some reason I just want to protect her from everything I am. And everything my friends are. _

_I guess you couldn't exactly call me your 'average' highschool student. But being ordinary is boring anyway._


	3. Falling Sky

Squall arrived home. _home. if that's what you called the most...screwed up household on the block then okay. home it is. Generally, it wasn't the nicest area, it was a bit of a hole. Most people barely left their houses, unless they needed food...or unless they were selling drugs to kids on the street. All in all, the town itself wasn't a bad place, but the people...most of them were scum._

"I'm home" Squall muttered in annoyance as he came through the front door, eager to just get in his room and slam the door to everything. It had been a really...weird...annoying...crappy day. And right now, Squall just wanted to be by himself, and think about everything that was going on.

"Squall!" a voice carried after him down the hall. _Damn. Life is never easy, is it?_

Squall continued away from the man who was his father. Well temporarily anyway. His name was Gray, and he was the first of many 'fathers' who had a very low tolerance for Squall's behaviour. He continued into his room, not bothering to turn and acknowledge the man behind him.

"Don't ignore me young man" Gray bellowed, he clearly wasn't in the mood for any form of bullshit.

"Okay, whatever, what do you want?" Squall asked, turning to look the man in the eye. He was in his early 40's. His once raven hair had began to silver more and more since he'd been living with Squall and his mother. Squall hated him, just as much as he hated all the others, if not more. This man had a nasty temper, and the way he spoke to Raine was disgusting. _I dunno what the hell she see's in this asshole._

"I got another phone call from the school today, I'm not going to put up with this kind of thing forever you know..."

"Then leave!" Squall spat angrilly.

"I am NOT going anywhere! This is MY house now, I pay the hyne damn bills and work to put food on the table! All you do is cause trouble with your stupid mates! And I'm sick of it!" Gray roared.

There was silence.

"...You need structure boy..." the man continued, trying to calm himself down. "You need to stop hanging around with those kids.."

"Fuck you" Squall mused, he brushed past the man and headed back down the hall. He was ready to leave the house...at least until his mother came home from work. The maybe Gray would leave him alone. He could hear quick footsteps behind him, a firm hand grabbed him by the shoulder, turned him around, and the next thing he felt was a sharp pain on his jaw. He stood frozen for a moment. He didn't even think about striking the man back...he felt internal pain...somewhere deep inside.

Silently, he continued out the front door. "Tell mum i'll be home later..."

-----

The girls left mall, with six bags filled with new outfits for Rinoa.

Rinoa noticed Selphie was still really hyped up...from well...something. What happened an hour ago seemed like some kind of mysterous blur, Rinoa couldn't quite remember what had gone on.

"Hahah...don't worry Rin, she's always like this" Quistis laughed as she linked arms with Rinoa. Selphie was running eagerly off ahead, they were all on their way home again. Rinoa took another sip from her chocolate milkshake, she felt kinda strange...everything seemed so...incredibly obvious and yet so vague. Everything around her...people's scummy houses...trees...lettterboxes...clouds...and the gentle beams of sunlight. It was as though everything seemed to tie into place perfectly, nothing was without it's purpose...

_I'm just trying to catch sight of where I fit into this picture... _Rinoa thought silently to herself as they went on.

"I can't believe Squall...he can be such a prick" Quistis said, wincing as the light shone into her crystal blue eyes. Rinoa couldn't help but notice how perfect she looked, almost like a doll. Her long hair shone like silk in the sunshine. Her skin was pale and clear. Rinoa wondered about what had happened before between Quistis and Squall, it seemed like there was something going on there that she didn't know about. But in time, she hoped she would come to learn.

"He doesn't know what he wants...one minute he wants me all over him...the next moment he wants me to just disappear!" she continued.

Rinoa looked at her. The subject had really caught her attention, though she didn't know why. "Are you and him...a couple then?" Rinoa asked curiously.

Quistis continued to look forward. Selphie had stopped infront of a house not to far ahead and she was waving at them both with a big silly grin.

"That's Selphie's house up ahead" Quistis said softly. _Obviously...she doesn't want to talk about her and Squall anymore..._

They approached the house, "Heeey girls, Rinny you coming in?" Selphie asked jumping up and down.

Quistis offered Rinoa a tiny smile, "I'm sleeping here tonight, you wanna stay with us too?" she asked.

"No...um...I think I better take my shopping home...and get some rest. I had fun though."

Selphie nodded. "Awww...okay then, we had fun too girl! you're so totally hanging out with us at school tomorrow and from now on!"

The three hugged in union and waved goodbyes and Rinoa continued home.

-----

Squall snapped shut his cell phone. _That was a really insightful conversation...geez _he thought as he sat down on a park bench with his head in his hands. He'd just spoken to Seifer, who was usually a decent enough friend to talk to when something bad had happened. Hyne, Seifer knew. He got the most shit out of everyone...and often people forget that and wonder why he has such a short fuse. Irvine and Zell were with Seifer though at the moment, and were constantly interupting the phone call by screaming things into the reciever. Just really...stupid things...

_About her. _Rinoa.

And it all just angered him even further.

He wondered about Quistis for a moment. She was pissed off, like always. Her temper was always running hot these days. And she just didn't understand anything at all. The whole thing was just...this giant misunderstanding..._She'll get over it _Squall thought, right now he had greater problems. Like the pathetic excuse for a man that was currently living in his house. Squall reached up to his jawline and applied pressure with his hand. _Fuck. _The pain didn't take long to register. He reached into his pocket, hoping to find a joint...or even just a cigerette..but he found nothing but gum wrappers.

He looked up from his misery to the sun that was sinking down in the sky. Squall was never the kind to admire the setting of the sun. But today...the sky looked almost surreal. Hues of yellows blended with brilliant oranges and slight reds. It really did look un-real...

And to top off the most beautiful thing he'd seen in so long...

There _she_ was...walking in his direction.

----

He looked so alone. He was the first thing she'd seen that didn't fit into this beautiful portrait the world had painted around them. And she took comfort in it. Even though in reality...she couldn't even begin to understand.

"Hi...Squall" she smiled awkwardly, his blue eyes looked up into hers. _So sad...those eyes..._

She couldn't help but notice the swelling and bruising on his face. _Oh Hyne, he's hurt!_

"Oh no...Squall! are you alright?" she exclaimed, dropping all her shopping bag and kneeling down to properly examine his face. Not thinking twice, she reached out and ran her fingers gently over his source of pain. She felt him flinch slightly at her touch. And it finally registered what she'd just done. _I-I just...touched him!_

She almost jumped back, her face now complete with two cheeks pink with blush.

"I-I-I'm so sorry...I was...just shocked to see you hurt!" she blurted, trying to finds words that would justify her actions. Trying, and failing.

"...Squall are you alright? what happened?"

-----

His eyes never left hers. It was like...some weird connection...like a gravity pulling him towards her. He shook himself internally, trying to shake away these crazy thoughts. But then she touched him. _Hyne, did she just touch me...what the hell was that feeling just down?_

He flinched at the feeling. Touch was usually an un-welcome sensation, something he pretty much tried to forsake himself from. But this was different..._No way, she didn't just touch me...I must be stoned._

Squall watched as she moved backward slowly. She looked so cute, her usually pale cheeks flushed with pink. Innocent. Shopping bags all around her. She looked so lost..._She's just like me _he thought.

He listened as words poured from her mouth, he was too deep in thought to even catch a single word. It were as though she spoke to him in a language only they could understand. He didn't hear her words, but he heard enough to know she was concerned. He remembered the mark on his face as her next question snapped him back into reality.

"_Squall are you alright? what happened?" _he heard her ask.

He felt a small pain in his face again, and he shot quickly up from his sitting position.

"I'm fine, it's nothing really, I just hit my face when I was under my car trying to fix something" he lied. She remained where she was, "You need help with those?" he asked as she scrambled to gather all the shopping bags back into her hands.

"Nah...It's okay" she blushed even harded. He wanted to laugh, but his cool exterior did well to keep it all in.

"Here, C'mon" he said, this time offering her his hand. Which she hesitantly accepted.

-----

_"You're going up that way right?" _she listened to him question. His voice was barely audioble above her ragged breaths which she hoped so very badly he could not hear the way she could. _What just happened? It was so strange..._

She nodded quickly. "Thanks" she squeeked.

"...Well, my house is the other way...so...um...see you at school tomorrow right?" he smiled. She melted.

"Yeah...school...tomorrow..."


	4. Getting To Know You

Squall surfaced from his bed as his alarm read 7:00 AM. And that in itself was a bit of a shock horror. Early and Squall didn't go together. But, of course there was a decent reason behind it. Squall had been awake in bed through-out most the night. His thoughts spinning. _Rinoa. Rinoa. Rinoa. _And the pain in his face didn't help him either. So he waited up 'til morning, when he listened to Gray leave for work.

_Time for breakfast. _Squall thought with a growling stomach. He was ravenous, he hadn't eaten anything for hours. As soon as he got home yesterday, he went straight to his room to avoid any other encounters with his 'father.'

He dressed quickly into his uniform, and flattened his hair down with his hands before heading into the kitchen. Ellone was there. She didn't have work today. Squall smiled slightly at the sight of his sis, reading the newspaper and crunching away at her toast.

"Morning sis" he said. She looked up from the paper, well...kinda dropped it, and grinned at the sight of him. "Goodmorning, Squally."

He sat down beside her at the table, pouring himself a bowl of cereal. The sunshine filtering through the window highlighted his bruised jawline, to this, Ellone gasped. She reached out to him and brushed her hand over his swollen jaw. "Squall...did _he _hit you again?" she asked, knowingly. Squall nodded. There was little more to say on the matter, the damage had been done. Squall beared the proof. Squall finished up the rest of his breakfast before helping Ellone to clear up the table.

"Is ma home?" Squall asked whilst stuffing school books into his bag. "Yeah...she's still asleep, she had to work overtime again last night" Ellone nodded.

"That damn bar is gonna be the death of her...too much trash hanging around there.." Squall frowned. It displeased him greatly that his mother insisted on working so hard. She worked as a bar tender. And served alcohol to a bunch of bums five nights a week. Most nights she worked back until about 1 or 2 am. And whenever she was home, she was usually sleeping or out with Gray.

"Squall...she's struggling to make the rent money. That's why we need Gray" Ellone explained with lowered eyes. "It's not like she's in-love with that man."

"...Yeah...of course not, 'just leaves me wondering where my real father is..." Squall muttered. "...He'd be here if he could, you'know, one day, I think he'll show up" Ellone smiled brightly.

"Whatever.."

With that Squall was out the door, and in his car, speeding off toward school. Being early would just be an inconvenient start to the day.

-----

It took Rinoa an extra 40 minutes to get herself organized this morning. She decided she was no longer going to wear the white school shirt, so she replaced it with one from her closet. And forget about the leather black shoes, she hid them under her bed and instead wore a pair of plain black converse lace up sneakers. She didn't want to look too try-hard and over-do it with the make-up, but she wore a small amount of black eye-liner. And to finish off the new-look, she wore her long raven hair in a half-up half-down style.

_Squall. _The name wouldn't leave her mind. The strange connection she'd felt with him yesterday had been playing on her mind for so long it was driving her insane. _I can't wait to see him. _She thought to herself as she left the bathroom and ran for the front door, not wanting her father to see her.

"Bye dad, gotta run, or I'll be late!" she exclaimed, rushing out the front door, and making a run for it down the end of the street. _Phew. _

-----

Squall watched as the girls finally arrived. Together. And there she was. _Hyne, what has she done...wow...that look is really hot on her. _Squall was silently suprised at the fact she was even there. He still imagined she would ran back to her cheerleader pals, but the new look on her told him otherwise. Squall leaned back on the side of his car, Seifer, Irvine and Zell beside him. _Wow..she looks good. _

Quistis gushed over to Squall, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a quick embrace. _Man...what is she doing...leave me alone Quistis, I want Rinoa! _Squall chocked on these thoughts as she released him. His icy blue eyes quickly darted over into Rinoa's, she was trying to disguise her jealousy...trying maybe just a little to hard.

"Wow! so you're the new chick eh? pleased ta meet'cha, I'm Zell!" A boy with giant spikes of bleach blonde hair said. Rinoa simply smiled to this and said hello to him.

"So..." Seifer grunted, his arms folded across his chest, he didn't look to be pleased about something. Squall had a fairly good idea too. Quistis. Squall was aware that his friend was secretily habouring his feelings for her. But he was too damn proud to admit it or tell her. And it really cut Seifer up whenever Quistis would pay so much attention to Squall. _I wish they'd just get together...so she'd leave me the heck alone._

"You wanna skip school today or what?" Irvine asked, as Selphie gave him another dozen kisses on the cheek. The cowboy obviously loved the attention.

"Yeah...actually...I kinda do, we could go down to the station" Squall said.

"Squall, what happened to your face? did you get into a fight?" Quistis piped up acting all concerned. _As per usual. _"It's nothing. I'm fine. Guys, what are we doing?" Squall asked. He didn't want to talk about it. It was none of her damn business anyway. _Oh great. Now she looks pissed off again..._he thought to himself behind his frown.

"Let's go then" Zell almost shouted, he was in one of his moods. Hype.

"Umm..." Rinoa piped up, looking down at her shoes. "I'm gonna stay...here" she finished.

"Rinny...Don't worry! We do this ALL the time and NEVER get into trouble...it's like no one even cares!" Selphie exclaimed.

"I'm staying here. We have Literature classes for the fist two periods...and then it's like...study hall, I don't wanna skip today" Rinoa said firmly.

Squall's eyes met with Rinoa's again for a breif moment before he turned to the group. "I guess she's right...let's stay" Squall said.

No more was said. The group headed off to class.

-----

"Grow up you moron!" Quistis growled at Seifer.

"I'm serious, You can see a rabbit in the moon if you look hard enough!" he shouted. She rolled her eyes. Seifer looked disapointed. She was never interested in anything he had to say. With that, the group took their seats. Mr.Shiro was already waiting, he walked around the room and handed out a text book to everyone. Selphie screamed when she saw what was in her hands.

**Romeo & Juliet.**

"SIR! ARE WE DOING A PLAYYYY!" she asked. Her mind had already concluded to the obvious. Irvine would play Romeo and she would be Juliet.

The teacher nodded before sitting back down behind his desk. "Yes, we will be performing a short play this semester."

Squall nearly fainted. _no! No! NO! This isn't happening? why the hell did I come to school today? Damn you Rinoa...damn your hot new look. _He quickly stole another glance at her from the corner of his eye, she was looking at her text book intently. _Hrm...I like the way she did her hair today _he thought to himself before realizing she'd caught him looking at her. _DAMN! as if this can't get any worse...I look like and idiot..._He could feel his face turning red. He turned his head with lightning speed away from her and opened his book infront of his face in shame.

"No way!" Seifer beagn to detest, "There's no fucking way!"

"Irvine! IRVINE! just imagine how cute you'll look in one of those olden day costumes!" Selphie beamed. To that, Irvine winked. The cowboy would be ready and willing to play the lead role. Rinoa sat silent, trying not to giggle at Squall's cuteness. Seifer started tossing insults all around the room. Quistis began to read the text. Zell chewed his nails. And Squall was now clearly half way dead.Mr.Shiro began to write the notes up on the board, today's lesson would be to simply begin reading the chapters and thinking about auditioning for a character.

Not participating wasn't an option.

Squall took a quick look at the clock. Time would stretch on forever until recess..Until the end of the day for that matter.

-----

Actually, the end came quickly, and before Squall knew it they were all in the parking lot. Ready to go home. Quistis and Seifer were fuming again. This time over their ringtones. Seifer was complaining that his one sounded better and that hers was just annoying.

Squall rolled his eyes, _Seifer will argue over ANYTHING just to get her attention. damn fool._

"Are they always like that?" Squall heard Rinoa laugh, she was standing beside him. Looking kind of brain dead. It had been a long day. The sun was scorching down on them. A tiny smile came over his face, everyone was distracted, and he felt as though he finally had a private moment with her. "Yeah..." he mumbled. Feeling awkward again. She laughed again, this time not at Quistis and Seifer, but at him. _Damn I look like a fool...Hyne, she's cute!_

"Hey! LEONHART!" A voice yelled from across the parking lot. Squall and Rinoa turned, it was a group of jocks, and they were fast approaching.

"What do you bitches want?" Zell asked, getting up infront of them, Seifer and Irvine close beside him.

They all laughed. "We just wanted to know who finally kicked Squall's ass? the little fuck deserved it" they laughed. They'd obviously noticed Squall's bruised up face and got the wrong idea. Stupid idiots. Squall was ready to lunge forward. But a pair of tiny hands grabbed his arm and held him back. "Don't" Rinoa said. "Please don't."

The girl, Gwen, and the other cheerleaders were also standing around. "Hey Rinoa!" they called, she turned her back and ignored them. Her hands still holding tightly onto Squall.

"Let's go, you can give me a ride home" she said. Squall had never backed away from a fight in his entire life. It wasn't in him to walk away or run. But he gave into the pleading look in her eyes right away. He nodded and they both jumped quickly into his car and sped away, his music blasting, which he quickly turned down. It registered again. He was alone with her. She was beside him. How perfect...Yet so damn awkward.

"Nice music" she said.

"Yeah..Muse is probably my favorite band" he replied.

"I've never really listened to them...Well, I've heard them a few times but..." she stopped, looking rather uncomfortable. Feeling the same way as him. But even moreso because they had already driven right past her house.

"Umm...Squall?" she squeeked, as his car pulled up outside a different house. "This isn't my house...Sorry, I thought you knew where I lived" she said.

He swallowed. Summoning all the courage he had in him, he looked at her. "I know..." he began. Nervous..so damn nervous.

"I K-know where you live.." he went on. She tilted her head to the side and smiled. "So then...where are we?"

"Well...er...this is my house...and if you want...you can come in..." he smiled. She looked deep into his scared blue eyes and smiled back.

"I'd love to."


	5. Confusion

Squall opened the front door, and shuddered as she strode past him and into the house. Lately, he didn't know what had gotten into him. He's invited her into his house for Hyne's sake! _why? _he cried out mentally _Whyyyy...?_

Well, actually, it was pretty obvious why.

"Nice place, Squall" he listened to her speak as they made their way into the empty kitchen. No one was home. And they wouldn't be, for at least another three or four hours. Squall was just thankful that Gray wasn't around. Squall paced over to the fridge and opened it, retrieving a couple of cans of soda. He tossed one over to her and smiled. The gesture was once again returned. She looked happy. _Happy _that he'd invited her in.

_Could she possibly feel the same way as me...?_

"Rough day huh?" she said, sitting down on the opposite side of the bench. He nodded.

"I'm sorry...about those guys in the parking lot...I've been messing with 'em for years.." he said, gulping down the cola drink.

"Don't worry..I don't think Gwen and her 'pom-pom bitches' are gonna make my life any easier..." she began. "I wish I never went near them..."

Squall let out a small laugh. He felt slightly more at ease. So..._I guess I might as well ask her...I mean...I guess she's cool. Well...yeah, she's really cool._

"Let's go to my room." His face blushed a little. "Sure!" she giggled, following him down the hall into his room.

-----

Rinoa swallowed as he opened the door. Mentally praying to Hyne that she was going into his room...for anything that might involve his bed.

Heck, she liked him, but hopefully he didn't want to take things TOO fast.

Her smile morphed into a grin as she followed him into his room. "Wow!" she blurted. It was very, 'Squall-like'. Posters covered the walls entirely. Grunge posters. And the floor was just covered in mess. Unwashed clothing. Cd's. Magazines. Everything. It was crazy. There was a small clearing that made a kind of pathway, so he could get around his room.

"What a mess!" she laughed. She placed her un-finished can down on one of his drawers. And noticed some sketches. Drawings of girls.

"Did you draw those?" she asked, He nodded, "Yeah...but er...don't get the wrong idea or anything.." he blushed.

"Squall these are seriously good!" she said, she shuffled through the drawings. One looked familiar. A stunning girl, with beautiful eyes and waist long hair, that covered her naked body. Rinoa peered closer, examining the writing at the bottom of the page. Which read: 'Quistis Trepe - by Squall Leonhart'

Her heart sank. _I knew it. I knew those two were together. _she wanted to scream.

She watched as he walked over to his stereo and switched on some loud blaring music. Simular to the type she'd heard in his car ealier. Then he did something she would never have imagined in a million years. He walked over. For the first time today, he looked confident as he took her hands into his and led her over to his bed. Was what she didn't want to happen about to happen? She was too caught up in the moment to really give a damn. _He's gorgeous..._she thought as she felt him take her into his arms as they lay down together on the bed.

Nothing else happened.

He just held her there. Like it was such a natural thing to do. She closed her eyes and relaxed against his body. That same feeling flooded her again. _Perfect. _The same feeling she'd felt with him in the park the other day. She opened her eyes, to see the drawing of Quistis resting on his drawer. And the thought struck her of what she was doing..

_Quistis...Quistis is my friend. This is wrong.._

She pulled herself quickly out from his arms and jumped up from the bed. "I can't do this Squall! It's wrong okay?" she shouted. "Look, I have to go..." she mumbled, making her way out of his room, she could hear him follow. _Don't make this any harder for me than it has to be, Squall..._She thought. _Just don't._

"Rin, I don't udnerstand, why is it wrong?" he spat. Frustrated.

"Because...I'm not like that okay? I don't just do those kinds to my FRIENDS!" she raged. He stood in the doorway, watching her dumbfounded as she walked away.

------

Selphie squeezed Irvines cheeks with both her hands and laughed so hard, Irvine thought her head was going to fall off.

"C'mon Selph-" he whined, "Let's keep walking...OUCH...Pull-ease!" the cowboy begged. "Fine! Fine!" she giggled, releasing him from her painstaking grip. Irvine sighed in relief. And the two continued towards Rinoa's house.

"Were almost there anyways.." Selphie beamed, taking Irvine's hand in hers. He smiled, "My face hurts.." he moaned. "Awww" Selphie cooed, giving him a kiss.

"Better now?" she winked. "Selphie...My lil darling...You're gonna have to do than more than that to ease my pain..." he smirked.

**Eww.**

They arrived infront of Rinoa's Mansion-like home. "Yay! this is it!" Selphie cheered. Irvine nodded. "Okay, so go and knock already" he said.

She plonked down on the driveway, wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling them against her chest.

"I'm embarrased Irvy...what if her parents answer the door...? They'll probably think I'm weird...look at me! I'm..." she pouted.

"Hunn...I'll...I'll friggin' go and knock on the door if yah want..." Irvine sighed. She did this every single time. Damn her insecurites..

"Would you really?" she grinned, jumping up onto her feet and pulling him into a tight embrace. "Yeah...'course...anything for you 'darlin.." he smiled behind gritted teeth.

-----

Irvine walked across the driveway, outlined lavishly with white and red rose bushes. _Rich Rinoa...darn...she's such a cutie...I could have scored big time with her._

He stood before the front door, taking his hat off from his head. To be polite of course. He turned back and smirked at Selphie once more. Awating him at the end of the driveway. She waved. And he turned his attention back to the front door. This time he cleared his throat before ringing the fancy door bell.

_Her parents are going to think I'm such a fetching young man. Maybe I'll get asked to stay for dinner? _He smiled to his thoughts, as the door was opened quickly.

A rather large...sized water jug appeared, and the next thing Irvine knew, it's contents were thrown over him. The cowboy stood stunned, soaked in water, as a fierce looking man appeared through the doorway.

"Who the hell are you? AND WHAT ARE YOU SELLING?" the man bellowed. Irvine ran. "Selphie! Run! WRONG HOUSE!" Irvine screamed. He grabbed Selphie's hand and the two took off tearing down the street. Trying to escape the wrath of General Caraway.

By this stage, the clearly INSANE, man had grabbed the garden hose and was spraying it full force in there direction.

Selphie joined in on the screamed, as she joined Irvine in his saturated state. They turned the corner and finally escaped the Caraway Mansion.

Irvine and Selphie stopped, still holding hands. Selphie couldn't help but laugh when she saw the serious look on Irvine's face. He grabbed her cheeks with a huge amount of force, and squeezed. _Revenge._

"Next time, you're knocking!" he snarled.

------

Rinoa finally arrived on her street.

For a while, she'd fought to restrain tears. But now, anger and guilt were starting to settle inside her. _I wish I didn't have to leave him like that...But...Quisty is my friend, I couldn't do that to her..why would Squall want to cheat on her in the first place? she's so much better than me.._

He walked up the oddly slippery driveway, Caraway never watered the garden..._Weird. Maybe he hired a gardener.._

She glanced at her wrist watch before opening the front door, where she saw her father standing with a vase filled with water. _WEIRD._

"Why the heck are you so late?" he asked, she ignored this. "Dad, what...um...exactly are you doing...?" she asked, her head tilting to the side.

Caraway sighed, "One of those annoying bible salesmen came to the door again...so I let him have it. I was in a bad mood."

"Hrm...okay...figures..." she she said, heading upstairs to her room. Remembering Squall. And everything that had happened. And exactly how bad she felt about everything.

"Wait a minute young lady! I'm not done with you!" Caraway called after her.

She turned to face him quickly, a few stray tears running down her pale cheeks.

"Leave me alone dad."

------

A/N's: Hey to any readers, I want to thank you for all the reviews so far, I hope It's going okay! It's not really my kind of style, but I wanted to try something different for a change. Thanks again for the reviews, I love them all and I think they're wonderful! thank you so much! I will leave credits at the end of the fiction and thank people personally for putting in time. Thanks again. And I hope you're enjoying so far! I'll update soon! - Bloodcrie


	6. I Don't Care, If You Don't

Squall peered out through his window at the downpour of rain. Quistis had just rang, and just hearing her damn voice made things, somehow, worse. She was meeting up with Selphie, Irvine, Zell and Seifer and wanted to know if Squall could come. She was organized a study group at her house. _So that's what she's calling it now huh? pfft, how lame. _Of course he had declined, and no mention of Rinoa was even made. _Rinoa..._ He sighed to himself as he watched Gray's car pull up in the drive way. The asshole was finally home. His steely blue eyes gazed out into the empty and dull sky and his mind wandered back to his thoughts of her.

_"I can't do this Squall! It's wrong okay?"_ her voice would be forever etched in his mind. How could she say such a thing?

_How can it be wrong? when it feels so damn right..._Squall stood lost in these thoughts as the song on his stereo changed.

"Turn that damn crap music of yours down!" he heard Gray's voice shout. _Fucking hell, why can't this jerk just get lost? _Squall walked away from the window and straight out of his room. He angry. And simply refused to turn the music down. Squall walked into the kitchen, where he found the man standing by the fridge, gulping beer down as quick as he could.

"That's mine" Squall said in a flat monotone. Gray smirked, and let out a small chuckle.

"You're kiddin' right? hah. You're still a minor, you can't drink beer- and besides-" he paused for a moment.

Squall walked closer to him, evidently pissed off. Not only was this man giving him commands about how loud his music could be, but he was also drinking his beer.

"Besides What?" Squall asked.

Gray laughed into the air. "Boy, this is my house, I'll drink whatever the fuck I want to drink."

That was it. Squall was about to lose it completely...

Then Raine walked in.

"Mum?" Squall nearly shouted. He was in shock, this was the first time he'd actually seen her in days. Awake. And smiling..._wow..that's my mother. _Squall spun around, forgetting about Gray, as his mother took him into a tight embrace. "Hey Squall" she cooed as she held him for a moment. "Hey..." Squall smiled as he relaxed in her loving hold. It was good to see her. "How come you're home?" Squall asked, "Ah, They sent me home, things were flat at the bar for a few hours-" she said. He looked up at him, her smiling expression became one of concern. She noticed the bruising on his jaw and her eyes lowered. She didn't need to ask. She already knew. This wasn't the first time. She released him quickly and walked over to Gray.

"Hi honey, I've missed yah" Gray said, giving her that sleezy trademark smirk of his before giving her a peck on the cheek.

Squall turned and got ready to head back to his room.

"Oh Squall!" Raine called after him. "I'll cook us dinner tonight, we all can sit together and catch up."

"Great..."

"Squall?"

"..What?"

"Turn your music down! Gray has been at work all day, and I'm sure he'd appreciate some peace and quiet."

------

The group of five sat down together on the floor, in the middle of Quistis's room. The decore wasn't too grunge, but the walls were covered in plenty enough posters. Her dresser was covered in bottles of perfume and make-up, and there were clothes everywhere. A moment of silence passed as they all watched the rain pouring outside her bedroom window.

Quistis swallowed down some more beer and let out a tiny sigh. "Squall's not coming" she said flatly.

Seifer grinned.

Irvine and Zell gave each other a high-five, while Selphie crawled over to her friend and gave her a pat on the back.

"Quisty...We all knew he wouldn't be interesting in studying for the play anyways..." Selphie told her. Quistis shrugged. "Oh well, so whose gonna go for Romeo?" Quistis asked. Selphie and Quistis had already agreed that Quistis would play Juliet, Selphie was unable to pronounce half of the words in the chapters, so she decided to audition for a minor role.

"Anybody?" she asked again, this time snapping. Everyone remained silent.

She grabbed her cigerette and took a large drag from it. "Fine, whatever...could you guys go? I need to be alone" she said in aggrivation.

"Only if I can take three beers with me!" Zell pouted, he was already nearly half drunk, and he wasn't exactly the early quitter type.

"Okay, just...get out" she spat.

Irvine shrugged, as Zell stumbled up, ready to be on his way home, balancing three bottles of beer in his hands.

Selphie grinned and gave Quistis a tight hug. "Call me?"

Quistis nodded, her eyes were looking bloodshot as if she were about to cry. "I'll call you tonight."

Selphie and Irvine headed off, helping Zell as they went. Seifer, however, was still lingering by the door.

Quistis put out the smoke in the ask tray and walked over to the window, she gazed out into the cold, winter-like sky. Her fingers traced down the sides of the window,

"Go away Seifer, I can see you standing there, I'm not in the mood for your games.." she said. The sadness in her voice was genuine.

He took a few forward steps back into the room, and slowly, with all the courage he had in him, he swallowed his pride. He walked behind her a gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be at the audition tomorrow...for the role of Romeo.." he said, before leaving her room.

And Quistis burst into tears.

------

Rinoa, still feeling a mixture of a emotions, decided to crawl into bed.

She rolled to the side, pulling the covers high up her neck, she listened to the rain as it hit the window.

_"Rain, rain, go away, come again another day.." _a voice lulled in her mind. A sweet voice. A voice, that from time to time became distant to her, but it was a voice that the world would never forget. Julia Heartilly, the famous singer and pianist. She would be forever remembered for her song 'Eyes on Me'

But there were so many other songs Rinoa remembered her singing.

She gripped tight to her bed sheets as memories flooded back to her. So many years had passed, and she still couldn't believe her mother was gone. The familiar sound of four friendly feet came trotting into her room, she felt something warm and heavy jump up at the end of the bed. Angelo. She smiled, the company right now as welcome. She sat in an upright position, as she watched him curl up near her feet. She leaned over and petting him softly on his head. His fur was beautiful and soft.

"Don't ever leave me Angelo" Rinoa cried as she hugged his neck. She listened to him whimper softly in response.

"Everyone I know, goes away in the end.." she said as a few warm tears rolled down her cheeks.

_And that's what I'm afraid Squall will do..._

------

Squall has spent countless hours in his room now. In total silence. He could hear Raine and Gray talking in the kitchen. Gray had been bitching on about how the school had rang up about Squall's behaviour. He was telling Raine that Squall needed be be punished. And from the sounds of it, she was agreeing.

_All for his fucking money..._Squall thought as he lye there on his back, gazing up and the white blank ceiling.

It just pissed him off even more thinking about. He had to put up with all these strange men, assholes, coming into his house and dating his mother. And he wasn't like, she was even in-love with any of them, it was only so she could use their money. To pay for bills and food. But Squall knew, she was doing it for him and for Ellone. He just hated it so much. Everyone was suffering because of Gray. He was a total prick. Squall sighed as he rolled to his side, he grabbed the drawings that were on his bedstand and flipped through them.

When he came to the drawing of Quistis, in all his anger, he tore it into a hundred shreds and threw the pieces on the floor.

Right now, he just wanted to scream. _Where the fuck is my real father right now?_

"Squall! Dinners ready!" he heard his mother calling.

Squall got up and slumpered into the kitchen, with a heavy sigh he sat down at the dining table. And began shovelling the rice onto his plate.

"Bit much there kid" Gray grumbled, looking un-impressed at the amount of food Squall had on his plate.

"I didn't eat lunch" Squall smirked, putting extra vegetables, just to piss the man off.

"Your attitude is fucking rotten!" Gray exclaimed, banging a fist on the table. Squall shot a look at his mother. She looked scared.

"You need to learn some respect...were at the dinner table here, so mind your damn manners!" Squall shouted.

"Please-" Raine interjected.

"This is my fucking house! You stupid fucking shit!" Gray snarled, his face exploded into an angry shade of red and he jumped from his seat and raced over to Squall. His grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him back against the wall.

"Now, You listen to me boy!"

Raine jumped up from her seat, "Don't Gray! Just leave him! Please!" she was screaming, her face was flushed and her eyes wavered with tears.

"Shut the fuck up!" he bellowed. His whole body shook with anger, he glared into Squall's eyes.

"Things are gonna change around here, boy!" _I know they are..._

Squall swallowed hard as the man pushed him hard into the wall once more before letting him go. Gray stormed off, slamming the front door behind him. Seconds later, his car could be heard speeding off down the road. The silence.

Raine paced over to her son, tears still streaming from her eyes, "I'm sorry...Squall I-"

"I'm leaving." _I can't deal with this shit. Not right now. I can't do it anymore._

Squall didn't think twice about what he had just said. He turned and went into his room and started searching for a bag. _I'm not going to stay here like this...This is going no where and I can't take it. _He retrieved a large duffle bag from under his bed and began shoving clothes in. Raine walked into the room. "No!" she screamed, "Please!" but it was too late, he'd heard enough. In only moments, he filled the bag with clothes and other things he thought he'd need aswell as all his money.

He walked straight past his mother and out the front door. She of course followed, he jumped in his car, and she slammed her fists down on the hood of the car. "Squall!" she shouted. "Squall!"

He felt his heart sink. It wasn't her fault. So many years...and it had finally come to this. He knew deep down, she did it out of love for him. But...he couldn't take it here anymore. And if Gray wasn't going to leave, then Squall sure as hell had to. Slowly, he got out of the car, looking his mother in the eye. The woman that had raised him and made up for the absence of his real father. "I'll be back to visit.." he said, as she wrapped her arms around him. sobbing. The embrace was quick. He jumped back in the car and left.

As he drove he honestly didn't no where to go or what to do. His heart screamed for him to run to Rinoa and just hold her in his arms. Just seeing her could melt all the pain away. Years of it. No one really understood. But even she thought it was _wrong _the one thing in his life that he knew was right. She'd told him it was wrong. _I can't see her. I couldn't bare it. _He'd made up his mind. She didn't want him. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone out and rang Zell.

"_Yo! Squall, Missed ya buddy"_

"Hey man...Is it cool if I stay at your house for a few days."

_"Whats up? shit with your dad again?"_

"Yeah, he's not my dad. Look, is it okay?"

_"Hang on bro, I'll go and ask ma, she should be cool.."_

Squall waited, while driving in the direction of Zell's home. He sighed. _Maybe I should have called Seifer?_

_"Yo! Squall, It's okay, come over, Ma says it's all good."_

"Thanks, Be there in a few mins."

He snapped shut his phone and snapped shut his mind from the one person who could have cured his tragedy. Rinoa.


	7. Changes

Rinoa sighed in relief as the bell rang. **Another day over**. She slipped through the crowd of students, everyone was in a mad-rush to get to their lockers. It was Friday at last. The weekend had finally landed. But try as she might, she couldn't join in with everyone else's excitement. Squall hadn't shown up to school for the past couple of days..And she couldn't shake the thoughts of what had happened from her mind. And Quistis still knew nothing..._I nearly betrayed my own friend...How could I be so fucking selfish?_ In the past couple of days she had began to realize, just how different her life was now becoming. She actually had plans tonight. For the first time in so long...She had plans!

As she finished weaving her way through the sea of faces, she arrived infront of her locker, Selphie was already their waiting for her.

"Rin!" Selphie smiled from ear to ear, obviously happy to see her friend. "You're late! I've been waiting here for like, and hour!" Selphie said whilst stomping her foot.

Rinoa rolled her eyes at her friends exaggeration. Frustrated, she began to put her combination into the lock. "...Um, the teacher made me stay back for a bit..." Rinoa said flatly.

Selphie leaned closer, It was so noisey! the students were all down the hallway, throwing bits of paper, yelling, screaming, fighting...It was the absolute definition of insanity!

"Why did you have to stay back, Rinny?" Selphie said.

Finally! Rinoa got the damn lock to open! As quickly as she could, she began shoving books into her bag for weekend study. _Not like I'll do it anyways_. Rinoa felt a poke on her shoulder as she slammed shut the door to the locker and started off towards home. She wasn't feeling herself. _I must be getting a really bad head ache _she thought as she continued on her way, forgetting about Selphie completely.

"Rinoa!" Selphie groaned, catching up to her friend who was already out of the building and nearly out the front gate.

"Oh...I'm so sorry!" Rinoa said sincerly to her friend as they walked together down the foot path.

Selphie smiled, "What happened after class?" she asked. Rinoa's eyes lowered.

"Rin, It's okay, You can tell me, It's just between us..."

Rinoa looked straight forward, avoiding eye contact. She didn't really know what to say...or how to say it. A feeling grew in the bottom of her stomach, and her mind screamed out to her. _Just tell her a lie. _She shook these thoughts away. _No._

"...The teachers don't think I should hang around with you guys anymore" Rinoa nearly cried out. "They don't want me to be around your group..."

Silence.

Rinoa felt her heart sink. She knew this would come across as hurtful to Selphie...and everyone else for that matter. What the teachers had told her was ridiculous. _For the first time in my life, I have friends...and they want me to leave them alone because they are a bad influence? _The two girls walked the rest of the way wordlessly. Until they arrived at Selphie's house.

"Rinoa, We all love you, But if you think were-" Selphie began,

"No" Rinoa interjected, "I love you guys too...I don't care what they say, Nothing is going to change."

Selphie gave her friend a genuine hug before she skipped up her drive-way. "See you at the party tonight! CAN'T WAIT!" she beamed.

"Me either! See yah!" Rinoa giggled, as she headed on home.

**----------**

"Yo! Squall man...Get up!" Zell said as he shoved the mans shoulder.

Squall groaned, lifelessly, he rolled over onto his side. His eyes opened slightly, but he quickly shut them again in detest to the open curtains. "Shut them."

Zell obeyed his friend's command, he drifted over to the windows and shut all of the blinds. "There, now get off my god damn couch!" Zell whined, "It's been TWO DAYS!"

Squall nodded knowingly before he wiped up some drool with his sleeve. Indeed, it had been two days on Zell's elegant and oh-so-comfy black leather sofa. Squall still didn't feel as though he had enough strength to face the world. He'd created his own artificial permanent night-time. The curtains were drawn at all times, and he didn't dare step outside into the sunlight.

Squall was sick of everything.

"Squall...It's friday, aren't you coming to the beach party?" Zell sighed.

_...Party..._Squall thought. "Is Rinoa going?" he rasped out.

Zell nodded. "Yeah, Irvine said she's coming along with Selphie."

Squall slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. And a disgusting feeling suddenly registered. "I'm up" he said with a tiny yawn.

"Yesssss!" Zell cheered, "So! You're coming to the party right?" Zell asked all wide eyed. Squall looked at him. _He looks different...weird...I've never actually noticed just how weird this kid is...Hrm..._

"Whatever..." Squall said still with a blank expression, "I'm gonna take a shower...and get changed and stuff."

Zell nodded, as his friend headed off to the bathroom, Zell plonked himself down on the couch.

"Ahhh...Good to have you back Zell leaned back into the huge couch. Squall had forsaken such comfort from him for days, Zell could smell...something. And it wasn't pleasant. The bleach blonde gave out a huge huff..._Man...he didn't even notice my new piercing..._Zell thought and he grabbed the remote and switched on the television. He could hear the shower water start running. Zell grinned and gave his 'imaginary friend' whom he named 'bob' a high five. Getting Squall into the shower would prove to be the sucess of the day!

----------

**"GET OUT NOW!" **Quistis bellowed, jumping onto her feet and shaking her fists. "I don't know why you're in my room! Get the hell out! NOW!" she shouted into the air. To most people, these frustrations would have made someone scared enough to jump out of their skin.

But Seifer wasn't most people. Seifer, was use to this kind of treatment.

"Why am I here?" he snarled, now also getting onto his feet. "I'm here because you INVITED ME! or has that slipped your mind O fair lady?" he growled in sarcasm of the situation. Seifer still couldn't believe his luck. Once again, he was in her room. But, this time, they were alone. Shakespeare could not distract him from his true reason for being there...

"...Why can you speak to me so fluently when you shout at me, but when you read from this book you sound like a gagging toad!" she exclaimed shoving the book back in his hands.

"Oh...and what? Squall could do sooo much better than me right? Because Squall is just sooo dreamy!" Seifer hissed.

"Fuck you Seifer! I Quit! NOW GET OUT!" she continued as she barged past him and over to her dresser.

"No."

She took a blade from her drawers, where it had been displayed for a decoration. She started slowly towards him, her eyes flickering with rageous venom. Seifer, too proud for his own good stood there. Refusing to back down to her demands. "I said get out" she said flatly, the two stood now only inches apart. She could almost hear his heart racing as she stood there, unsure of what she was actually doing. Their eyes ventured into a longing lock. He hand quickly snatched her wrist as he ripped the blade from her grasp and threw it to the ground.

She gasped.

The shock had left her vunerable and unable to moved as he slowly leaned in towards her. Surely, she knew what would happen next right? No urge grew in her to push him away. She remained motionless as he breathed down her neck. Out of his sight, she took a moment to indulge the feeling of him against her as she closed her eyes. her guard was down. She was still seething mad, but all these sensations had left her paralyzed. Much to her dismay, he suddenly took a sharp step backwards, she felt her self nearly collapse.

"Quistis...um-" He said. She looked up into his eyes, he looked just as embarrased as she was.

She could feel the red in her cheeks. Like him, she had alot of pride. And she would never admit to what had just happened. Instead, she would pretend it never happened. _It means nothing anyway...He's just a stupid...arrogant...son of a-_

Her thoughts were interupted by his smile. She watched him for a moment, dumbfounded. His cheeks were red...and for the first time in her life a thought crossed her mind. _He looks so damn...cute._

"So...ahh...you're coming...um...to the thing...down at the beach tonight yeah..?" he asked, his green eyes lowering to his feet.

"Yeah. I'll be there" she said, actually smiling back. Just then her phone rang. And the trance was broken...

_Fucking hell! _They both thought in union.

"You should go and get ready at your house, I'll meet you down at the pier with the others, okay?" she said, as she retrieved the phone from her bag.

He nodded. "Sure, see you then." He left the room, and she closed the door behind him, feeling as though she could scream. Even though she was unsure why. She flipped open her mobile phone. And smiled to hear Rinoa's voice on the other end.

"Oh hey Rinoa, you coming tonight?"

_"Yeah...um...I'll be there...What time are we meeting up?" _she asked.

"8 PM Down at the pier...do you have a ride?" Quistis asked as she wandered of to her closet and began sorting through her clothes looking for something suitable to wear. Rinoa was silent for a few moments and Quistis just gave a small chuckle.

"I'll call Squall and have him pick you up, see yah later girl! Love yah!" Quistis said and she flipped shut her phone.

She'd ring Squall in a few moments, but first thing was first.

She was gonna get ready.


	8. Our Hopes, And Expectations

He watched her in silence. His hand fumbled and turned the volume down on the stereo. As he watched Rinoa, walked toward the car, in all her glory. Looking just as stunning as always, and if not, more. She was perfect. The way her shiny hair hung loose around her perfect shoulders. Her pretty face. Her opted choice of clothing. His favorite colors. Black and red.

As she climbed into the car and slammed the door shut. Squall felt sick.

_What could a guy like me, ever really offer?_

"Hi Squall" she mumbled, as if in annoyance as she fastened her seatbelt. _Ouch. _He quickly turned the keys in the ignition and started the car. The music played softly as he drove. He watched her from the corner of his eye, her eyes were fixated on the world passing them by.

"How are you Rin?" he said. It took everything in him just to utter those words. She took his breath away. _This is so stupid..._

"I'm fine" she said quickly, not bothering to look at him.

"Argh...Rinoa, look, whatever it is I did, I'm sorry!" he blurted. He ran a hand through his messy hair in frustration. "I've missed you..." he went on.

He listened to her take a deep breath. As though she was preparing herself to explode. "I can't do this with you!" she said.

"Huh? What? What do you mean? What are we doing that's wrong?" Squall asked in pure confusion.

"You! Me! I can't be near you it's just wrong okay? what happened the other day at your house was wrong-"

"What? When I hugged you? Why is that wrong Rinoa?" he interjected.

"Shut up!" she exclaimed. "Just shut up. Drive. And leave me the hell alone Squall!"

_Why should I even bother...?_

_------_

Selphie rolled around in the picnic rug like a maniac. "This is soooo stupid! Where is Rinny?" she whined.

Irvine tossed Zell another can of beer. They'd started a small bonfire down on the beach, and the sun would soon be setting. The sky offered a glorious sight. A mixture of red, orange and grey. Almost as though someone has tossed a blend of tropical fruits into the sky.

Seifer watched Quistis from across the fire in silence. She knew damn well he was watching, but pretended not to notice.

"Selphie! Quit that! You're gettin' sand in your hair darlin'! C'mon" Irvine moaned. And just to spite him, she rolled around even more rapidly like the total idiot she was whenever she has even the slightest bit of alcohol in her system.

Zell glanced at his watch. "They're like 30 minutes late, I wonder what could have gone wrong...Hrmm...maybe I should call Squall?" Zell piped up.

"No" Quistis said with a tiny wry smile, she dared to look into Seifer's eyes for a lingering moment. "They'll be here soon. Don't fuss over it."

Zell opened the can and chugged a quarter of it's content down.

"I'm so bored, anyone up for a swim?" he said.

"YEAH!" Selphie roared jumping to her feet. "Let's goooo!" she said, ready to run off in the waters direction, only to be restrained by Irvine's 'loving grip'.

"Nuh-uh sweetie, I don't think so."

-----

"Okay asshole, what exactly do you think you're doing?" Rinoa asked.

"Oh so NOW you wanna talk huh?" Squall huffed, throwing his hands up in the air.

"WHY ARE WE PULLED OVER!" she screamed, her pale cheeks flushing with pink.

"Because you are being a heartless god damn bitch!"

Her body shook. She swallowed. Reality wasn't even real anymore. _What does he want from me? does he expect me to just fuck up my friendship with Quists..? How could he even think about cheating on her...when she's so pretty...and I'm..._

"Rinoa..."

He concluded her thoughts for her, offering a small and wry smile. "I'm sorry if I...made you feel uncomfortable at my place the other day" he began. His grey-blue eyes wandering into hers.

"It's okay...I mean...if you don't want to...w-well, we can just be friends if that's what you want" he finished. He was trying so hard to look brave.

_Friends...? Squall...you know that's not what I want...isn't it obvious?_

"Alright" she said in a small voice. "Alright" she said again nodding her head slowly. _no...no...no..._

"Alright then, Friends?"

"Friends."

With a heavy heart, Squall started the car back up and drove off down the road. They weren't far now from the pier. The remaining light of the day had melted into a star studded sky.

_Friends..._

-------

Selphie, Zell and Irvine erupted into laughter once again. **Drunks... **Since when was roasting weeners all that funny anyway?

"Oh my GOD!" Selphie shrilled. "Look! Look!" Zell squeeled in a hysterical fit of giggling.

"Yumo! You have soooo gotta try one 'o these!" Irvine chuckled as he munched down the 'burn-to-a-crisp-weener' only to gasp out in pain. HOT.

The cowboy dropped down on the picnic blanket and chugged down the rest of his beer to relieve the pain.

And as if on que, Selphie and Zell glomped over the top of poor Irvine for a game of 'stacks on'.

The three of them were too drunk to even notice that Quistis and Seifer had 'disappeared' together for a quiet stroll along the shore line...

-------

With out-stretched arms, Quistis let out a peaceful sigh before spinning herself around in a circle three times. Trying to wake herself up from what appeared to be a dream...

Seifer lingered close behind her, his green eyes highlighted by the bright stars and moon. He smiled silently, standing close beside her, just in-case she were to fall...

"You're different.." he spoke softly.

She smiled brightly, pulling her long honey-blonde hair free from it's restraints, to feel the warm summer breeze rush through it. "I'm not so sure Seifer, I still feel like me" she cooed. She sighed again before letting herself fall backwards, knowingly, right into his arms.

"Careful..." he said, as he lowered them both onto the sand in a sitting position. The whole time, he dared to keep her in his arms. He closed his eyes a moment, to breathe this all in. A moment like this was surely too good to last. Especially with the way she was. But right now, under the star shine, he wouldn't change her for the world.

Quistis let herself relax in his arms. She had drank enough to forget her 'normal' way of acting. She stared out into the vast ocean, glowing in pale moonlight, and enjoyed the sounds of the waves gently crashing on the sand.

Her mind was numb, and flooded with so many thoughts...

"People...don't have to know" she said, breaking the welcomed silence.

Seifer carefully peered into her eyes from over her shoulder, he smiled again, just knowing how lucky he was to be in this situation. With his other hand he gently brushed her soft cheek.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Everything" she began. "The...way...the way that I feel, they don't know."

Seifer narrowed his eyes at her words. Not from anger, but from empathy. _I know...I know all too well what you're saying Qui-_

"Seifer, It's lonely.." she said in a tiny voice. _Lonely._

His hold on her tightened, and he turned her to face him, his hands planted firmly on her shoulders. "It doesn't have to be this way!" he exclaimed placing a soft kiss on her lips, followed by many feverish kisses that she returned. Her hands traveled slowly down his back, pulling his chest closer to hers, as the two finally gave into their feelings. He kissed her again and again, and she kissed him back and held him tightly against herself.

**Moments like this are too good to last.**

------

Rinoa laughed out loud as she strolled content by Squall's side down the shore line.

Squall had explained that the pier was not far ahead, and the two of them were happy to spend some time talking a walk to clear everything up, rather than parking down by the bonfire.

"I'm serious, Irvine wore pink pants everyday for a month, that was the deal" Squall said in a serious voice, meanwhile, Rinoa was hysterical.

"You guys are so damn mean, the things you do to each other I swear..." she said, while trying to compose herself.

It was a beautiful night. Perfect. One unlike any other she remembered. Even though it hadn't quite started the way either of them had intended. Everything was okay now.

"Rin, I'm sorry you know..." Squall mumbled.

_This isn't how things should be..._

"Don't mention it, we can just forget it ever even happened."

_Like hell! _They both thought in union.

The continued up along the tides edge. The waves were calm, the they rolled over the sand with a relaxing gush. All the peace never lead them to expect what they were about to see. Or prepare them for what would happen next..

"Holy fucking Hyne!" Squall almost shouted.

Rinoa smiled in his direction. "What?" she asked dumbfounded.

No further explaination was needed.

There they were. Ontop of one another...

The two most Hyne damn unlikely people in all the universe...

Seifer and Quistis.


	9. It Will Make You Insane

Rinoa's eyes widened. Everything she had been thinking this whole time...about the kind of girl Quistis was, had suddenly gone down the toilet.

The way their hands fumbled over one another...with such...desperation. The way they kissed one another, almost furiously, it were as if they needed one another so badly, that their lives depended on this very moment. But it all added up to something that was easily defined as _Disgusting._

Rinoa tore her eyes away from the situation that was quickly unfolding before them. "Squall...I-"

She didn't know quite what to say. _He must be devastated...I can't believe she's actually cheating on him..._

_Squall..._

Squall turned away. He looked as though he was going to be sick. "I...can't believe..." he muttered between gasps for air. He started off away from what he had just seen, pacing...and then running the the opposite direction, Rinoa chasing madly after him, unsure of what to say or do next.

Squall stopped. Throwing his arms up in the air he shouted.

"Squall...I'm...so...so...sorry" Rinoa huffed, extending her arms outward him. _He must feel awful..._

"Oh my god Rin! Don't appologize! it isn't your fault!" he exclaimed brushing her off swiftly.

_YES! _he thought. He was silently celebrating an awful but exciting new development. He stopped for a moment to quickly ponder what this all meant. _Quistis is with Seifer. Gross. I know. But wow! Maybe this means she's finally going to leave me alone..._

_everything is coming into place. _He almost caught himself smiling on that thought. _I can finally be with Rinoa..._

"...so you're alright then?" she blinked. He watched her standing there. She looked dazed. Just absolutely blown away. Poor girl, she'd just witnessed something rather ugly. _She's so cute _Squall thought as he watched her.

"Hahah, of course I'm alright!" he finally smiled. "That was just...really...REALLY...weird." _did I just exclaim the word 'really' ...wow, it's kind of rare for me to put so much of a strain on my usual monotone voice. I wonder if she thinks i'm weird... _Squall was lost in his own rather odd thoughts.

The two began walking again. This time in silence.

_Guys... _she thought as they walked. _They're always trying to act tough...but as soon as Squall gets home...the walls are gonna come down on him. How could she be so damn heartless!? _ Rinoa could feel her cheeks flushing pink at the very thought of it. Quistis and Seifer...of all the people in the world.

Quistis and Seifer.

"Squall...do you wanna get out of here?" Rinoa asked. She felt as though she needed to get him away from here, or perhaps he would go insane. He had just lost his girlfriend. And she was positive that he was just putting on a brave face, whilst secretily...Squall was dying inside.

He turned to face her. "Um...sure?"

"We can go back to my place if you like..." she smiled, _surely he doesn't want to go and face the Selphie and the others after what he's just seen?_

"Uhh...Okay let's go back to the car then."

------

People make mistakes. People make **big** and **stupid** mistakes.

"Seifer?" a dry voice rasped out through the darkness.

The man groaned, before rolling over onto his side to face the woman beside him. Her large eyes met with his. _Uh-oh..._

"What the hell did you put in my drink?" she asked, with a little too much bitterness in her tone.

And to this his eyes narrowed. At the same time, the two jumped onto their feat, glaring at one another menacingly.

"You dirty bastard! what did you do to me!?" Quistis hollered, her two hands balling into fists.

"Quistis! you've gotta quit pulling this shit on me!" he roared, taking a couple of steps towards her. "I fucking care about you!" he went on.

"...And I know that I mean something to you aswell" he finished, with his piercing green eyes, he watched her, as she turned her back and began to storm away from him. He plopped himself back down on the sand and put his head in his hands. What did this woman want from him? What was he doing that was wrong? Why did she keep running away from the one thing they both needed?

"She must be crazy..." he spoke aloud.

-----


	10. Forgetting comes Cheap

( T h e n e x t m o r n i n g. . . )

_Ring-ring...ring-ring...ring-ring..._

The sound went on endlessly. Quistis opened one eye, the sun seeping in through the window irritating her, not hardly as much as the phone which had been ringing for nearly half an hour now. She moaned, threw one of her arms out of bed, and reached for the phone, putting it to her ear she answered.

"What!?" 

Pleasantaries could be forgotten at such an early hour.

"_Whenever you speak, It feels as though someone throws knives at my crouch" _his voice calmly answered. **Seifer.**

She could feel herself grinding her teeth. "Piss off Seifer. Seriously, I don't want to see you OR hear your pathetic voice. ever. again."

Before he had a chance to respond, she hung up and threw the phone as far as her right arm would enable her.

------

Rinoa groggily opened her eyes, everything still seemed a little blurry, and she felt fatigue hit her head like a frypan. She smiled slightly, enjoying the warmth sleep brings, closing her eyes, she snuggled, preparing to drift back into the realm of slumber once more.

Until she felt a warm pair of arms pull her closer...

She froze. Her eyes quickly widening. _oh my god.._

Looking around, she realized a few dozen beer bottles scattered around the floor. She tried hard to remember last night, but the only parts that came back involved Quistis...and Seifer. awkward.

She took a deep breath, and decided to summon whatever courage she had before turning over, to reveal a smooth naked chest.

It of course belonged to Squall.

She swallowed, and meekly looked up to see his cute face. He was still sleeping like a baby. He had the sweetest expression on his face. His breathing was soft and calm. His long messy hair fell all around his face, how tempting it was...she wished only to reach up and move it away from his eyes.

Her eyes drifted back to his chest, and she noticed his tattoo. A stern lion, metallic and cold looking, but with fiery eyes that revealed pride, strength and love.

Forgetting completely about the situation she was currently in, Rinoa gently reached over and traced the lion with the tip of her finger.

With her body and head still pressed against his, she silently realized just how good his arms felt around her. They were like two pieces of a puzzle that just seemed to somehow fit.

"Rin...are you awake..?" his voice startled her out of her trance like state.

She felt herself scream on the inside. _oh my god, what the hell am I going to do? _His arms disappeared from around her, moments later, the rest of him did aswell. She watched him pull his shirt back on, and stretch. "Um..thanks for last night, I really needed that" he smiled.

Feeling violated, even with her pink nightgown on, she pulled the bed sheets over herself and blushed hard. "_Last night_?" she repeated after him, confused.

He moved to the other side of the room, and began collecting the empty beer bottles. "You don't remember?" he chuckled. "You didn't drink much at all Rin." He headed toward the door, turning once more to face her with his gorgeous smile.

"I'll be going now, I'll put these in the bin on the way out" he said, signaling to the beer bottles.

She quickly shifted from her bed.

"Oh don't trouble yourself Rin, stay there.." he said lingering by the door way. He laughed quietly, quickly he walked over by her bed, gently fixing the covers over her, and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"See you tomorrow at school I guess" he finished before disappearing completely.

Rinoa was left there dumbfounded. **What exactly was her thanking her for? What happened last night...?**

She pulled the covers to her chin, and tried to remember as far back as she could into last night. The first thing that came to mind was the disturbing Seifer-Quistis incident. Rinoa groaned at the mental images, but it led her to ponder, how was she going to act around Quistis at school tomorrow? What about Seifer?

What about Squall!?

She reached for the phone on the bedstand, and decided she should ring Quistis and talk about everything...

------

Quistis rolled out of bed as the phone rang again.

This time is wasn't Seifer. Thank God. "Hey Rin" Quistis greeted her friend as she walked over to the bedroom mirror and started brushing through her long locks of bedhair.

"_Quistis, what are you doing later today_?"

"Hrm, nothing really, I think I'll just catch up homework, well...maybe. Why?" Quistis reached over for the eyeliner and started applying.

_"Wanna meet up for coffee at the local diner? I hard a pretty hard night last night, and it would be great to talk about it" _

Quistis swallowed. Last night had been a nightmare... The last thing she wanted to do was talk about what had happened. NO ONE was ever to find out what had happened between her and Seifer. No one. Ever. No way.

But a greasy breakfast and coffee sounded like the perfect cure for a hangover.

"Sure Rin, I'll meet you there in thirty minutes, sound okay?"

"_Great. See you there."_

------

Zell heard Squall's car pull up in the drive way.

He literally out the front door to greet his friend, who had been missing all night. "SQUALL! SQUALL!" he shouted, waving his arms infront of the car. "You're back!" he went on, as he opened the car door, to reveal a smirking Squall.

"Are you okay? Where were you! I was worried sick!" Zell pouted.

"I'm great!" Squall said, turning to his friend and grinning as he got out of the car and closed the door. "I had a great night" he finished.

"Man, I'm so glad you're alright" Zell said putting a hand on his best friends shoulder. Squall laughed as they walked through the front door.

"ZELL!" Squall exclaimed, "I have something really funny I need to tell you about, You're never going to believe this.." he smiled as he threw his still tired body onto the leather sofa.

Zell collected two beers from the fridge before joining his friend in the living room. "Yeah?" Zell snuffed as he tossed Squall a bottle.

"Well you'know Quistis and Seifer..."

-----


	11. Here we go again

Quistis stared into the mirror. Her eyes intense.

She grabbed the scissors out of the drawer, her mind was made up.

Without any further hesitation, she began cutting her long straight hair into a short blunt style that was barely longer than her jawline.

Within only moments, the long golden hair was scattered all over her bedroom floor.

_What is wrong with me? How could I ever let Seifer…of all people…Never again._

She quickly got dressed into her little tartan dress, which didn't leave much of her body to the imagination, and pulled on her chunky black boots. Looking very androgynous, she sauntered out of her house, She lit a cigarette and tried to set her head straight. There was no way she was going to spill any information regarding last night to Rinoa. This would have to go with her to the grave.

The diner was only a short walk from where she lived, her stomach growled as she opened the door, the bell jingled as she walked in. Suddenly everyone in the diner had their eyes on her, most girls narrowed their eyes, and most of the guys suddenly had a major case of slack jaw.

She spotted Rinoa sitting in one of the booths, wearing a pair of thick rimmed reading glasses and studying the oversized menu.

She slipped into the seat opposite Rinoa, "Hey nerd" she smiled, finally getting the attention of her friend.

Rinoa nearly fell out of her seat when she saw Quistis.

"You're hair! It's…GONE!" she gasped, her hand over her mouth in shock.

Quistis frowned at her, "Don't have a damn heart attack woman, It's still me" she said, taking her menu and glancing over it.

Rinoa took off her glasses, and studied her friend. She looked beautiful. Sexy in her punk-princess dress and dangerous, with her new jaggered bangs framing her gorgeous face, and hovering over her dark lined eyes.

"You look amazing, Quistis!" Rinoa spluttered, finding it hard to believe that this was the same girl she had seen just last night making out with Seifer Almasy in the sand under the moonshine. _Should I say something…? Heck, I don't even know if I should tell her about Squall and me… I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT SQUALL AND ME DID!_

Her mind was reeling.

"Hi girls, are you ready to order?" the young waitress interrupted, hovering beside the table with her pen and notepad.

"I'll have a cherry soda, and a bowl of cheesy bacon deluxe fries!" Rinoa beamed, happy to break the awkward silence.

"I'll have the same" Quistis said, shooting the waitress a dismissing glance.

"So" Quistis said, "What happened to you and Squall last night? You never bothered showing up at the beach, everyone was really worried" she continued.

Rinoa swallowed and rummaged through her purse, retrieving a hair tie, she quickly put her hair up into a bun, feeling as though she needed to occupy her idle hands.

_Gosh…what do I say? Do I just tell her Squall stayed the night at my house… Or should I just say…_

"Nothing happened, I didn't feel well, so…Um… Squall turned the car around and took me home, not sure what he ended up doing that night…"

Quistis narrowed her eyes. And Rinoa knew she was done for. The waitress politely delivered the two cherry sodas to the table, and said the fries would just be a few more minutes.

"You are a terrible liar Rinoa. We are supposed to be friends! You better start telling the truth right about now, or people might start to get the wrong idea about what you and Squall have been doing behind our backs! You know that Squall means a lot to me! Tell me the damn truth!"

Rinoa flew up off her seat. Her tiny hands balled into fists by her sides.

"Oh that's really rich. If Squall meant 'so much' to you, then WHY did you throw yourself onto Seifer last night down on the beach! WE SAW YOU!" the words tumbled out of Rinoa's mouth one after the other, there was no stopping it.

Before Quistis could even say a word, Rinoa snatched her purse and stormed out of the diner. The waitress delivered both serves of the fries, and Quistis decided that in all her misery, she would stay here until closing time and eat herself to death. This could not be happening…

_

Squall had spent the day helping Zell to do chores around the house.

He figured it was the least that he could do, considering Mrs Dincht had allowed him to practically move in. She never asked any questions. She'd told him he was welcome to stay as long as he needed to. She had washed all his clothes and made a delicious stew for lunch. She was a great woman, and Squall was eternally grateful for the kindness she had shown.

The two boys had just finished up cutting the grass and pulling out the weeds in the vegetable patch. It was time for a beer.

Zell wiped his sweating brow with the back of his hand as he plonked down on the freshly mown lawn. The midday sun beamed down on them.

"I just can't believe man… Who would ever have though Seifer could tame the wild beast that is Quistis" he chucked, cracking open his can.

"Quistis is one complicated girl. She's had a rough life… she went through a lot being in and out of foster care when she was a kid… She's faced a lot of rejection. I really do hope she can find some sort of happiness. Even if it is with Seifer, hahaha" Squall mused, gazing out into the azure sky.

Zell started babbling, but Squall was in his own world as he lit up a cigarette.

All he could picture in his mind, was Rinoa, in her little black singlet and pink lacy underwear. Last night had been the best night of his life. After they had gone back to her place, they had created their own little world.

He could still see her cute expressions as she chugged down beer after beer trying to keep up with him. Trying to impress him. As the night wore on, she had slowly stripped down to just her black singlet and panties. And when she had pressed herself against him, in her drunken haze, it had taken every last bit of his strength to hold back from what he had really wanted to do.

She had passed out on her bed, so he dressed her in the first thing he could find, a pink night gown, then passed out beside her.

He smiled at the memory, and realized, he already missed her.

"Hey Zell we should try the beach thing out again tonight, and get the group together again, it looks like it's gonna be a long, hot summer, let's make the most of it, man" Squall said, eager to get down to the beach and hopefully score a first kiss from Rinoa, it seemed like it was about time.

"Yeah man! I'm down for that! I'll call everyone up and get it happening!" Zell grinned.

**Authors note: (update November 21 2012) **Wow, I'm not even sure this update will ever see the light of day. Hahahah, I think people stopped reading Brand New many years ago, but I'm going to start updating it again, so for any new readers who might start getting into this, Please read and review, It would be great to hear what anyone thinks. I'm sorry for letting this story rott for so long, life sometimes gets in the way of our best intentions, but my love for Final Fantasy VIII will forever remain, and I'm looking forward to getting back into this again! Thanks!


	12. A Spanner In The Works

By the time Rinoa made through the front door to the Caraway residence, her heart was pounding so hard, she felt as though it could burst at any moment. She had run all the way from the diner back home again after a rather unpleasant meet up with Quistis.

He got inside and slammed the door behind her, panting for each breath as she leaned against the doorframe.

_Oh hyne, what have I done!…me and my big mouth…Why!? The last thing I want to to ruin my relationship with Quistis…_

"What's going on, young lady?" a stern voice interrupted her moment of haziness.

By the stairway, stood Rinoa's very angry looking father, his arms folded across his chest and frown lines creasing his forehead.

"Uh…Nothing daddy, I just…Um…" Rinoa couldn't find the words. She hoped a story would pop into her head, but she was a terrible liar. Before she could say another word, her father simply raised his hand, and as soon as she did, she knew it was time to close her mouth and whatever was about to come next wasn't going to be pretty.

"I've heard enough Rinoa" he began, "I don't know what is going on with you, but I don't like the changes that I'm seeing, you are always out with those felonious juveniles doing hyne knows what, when you should be home studying for your future."

"I'm sorry, I'll start studying more often again…I know I've been sluggish lately…I promise I'll do better" she offered, hopeful that his rant would end with a saccharine-sweet apology.

"You certainly will, young lady. From this moment, you are grounded and not to leave this house, for any other purpose than going to school" he said.

Rinoa felt her heart sink and her stomach flip at the thought of being jailed in this house and not being able to see Squall! Not being able to resolve things with Quistis! Not being able to meet up with the gang in general!

"That's not fair! It's summer! I should be able to see my friends! I promised I would things up with my studies! But you can't trap me here! I won't let you!" she protested, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

Her father chuckled, "Oh sweetheart, what do you honestly think you can do about it? I've already put measures into place to ensure that there's no way you'll be leaving this house without my consent, and arguing with me about it is going to lengthen the period of time you'll be grounded for"

_I can't believe this! Can things honestly get any worse than this!_

"Why are you doing this to me!? I'm finally making friends and fitting into this town and you are going to ruin everything if you do this!" she sobbed miserably, feeling the tears starting to gather in her eyes.

"You have made friends with a bunch of local minorities, they are clearly a bad influence on you Rinoa, and even your choices in clothing have changed. I don't care to see you traipsing around town in ripped up stockings, short skirts showing inappropriate amounts of skin" he sneered.

Her father was a strong man, and she knew that once his mind was made up, there could be nothing done to change it.

"Fine" she said, using her sleeve she pushed the tears away from her eyes, deciding that she wasn't going to allow him to see her cry over his cruel punishment. She brushed past him and began pacing up the stairs heading for her room.

Selphie closed her eyes and sighed, throwing her phone down against the mattress.

"That's the 6th time I've tried calling" she groaned "AND IT'S THE LAST! The house maid told me that if I called the number again, she was going to tell and he wouldn't be pleased about it" she pouted.

Irvine and Selphie both exchanged worried glances, recalling the time they had innocently tried to visit Rinoa at her house, and ended up drenched and cold water at the hands of the menacing .

Irvine scratched the back of his neck, and looked at Squall:

"Look buddy, there's no way we can go to her house…Remember what happened to me and Selph last time we tried callin' on Rin. It seems dear ol' daddy doesn't really like visitors droppin' by" he spoke.

Irvine, Selphie, Squall sat around in Zell's room, much to Zell's dismay. He hated having friends in his room, but after Squall had attempted to call Rinoa to retry the beach thing, and been told that she was 'unavailable to see friends' he had gathered the whole group together to plot a way to see her. Both Quistis and Seifer had refused to come, Quistis said she was studying and Seifer was playing his bass with his band.

"I'm not scared of some old man throwing water at me, I've got the damn mind to kick his ass" Squall said.

Everyone looked at him. They knew he was sooking, he would never admit it, but he was being a cry baby because he couldn't see Rinoa. Who would have ever though the mighty Squall Leonhart could turn to mush so easily over a pretty girl?

"Kicking her dads ass won't do you any favours Squall" Zell spoke, eyeing Selphie as she removed her stripey rainbow socks and threw them beside his pillow.

_Oh Hyne…I'll never be able to sleep in my bed again… _he thought to himself, keeping in mind that Selphie was well known for her horrible foot odour.

"Rinoa comes from a different kind up upbringing to us, ya'know? She's like…high-class or something. I'm telling ya, if you go around to her house, there's a good chance you'll never see her again man, her dad will probably have you arrested or something" Zell went on.

"Zell's right!" Selphie chimed in, "Her house is the biggest mansion I've ever seen! I thought the rose bushes outside her house were fake they looked so perfect! Her old man is rich as all hell! It's no wonder he doesn't want his daughter hanging around with a bunch of freaks like us!" she exclaimed.

"Speak for yourself" Irvine retorted, he swished his long shiny hair behind his shoulders and gleamed.

"I'm no freak. I'm the biggest gentleman I know of around this town, in fact-" he was unable to finish his sentence, Selphie had come quickly from behind him and gagged him using one of her smelly socks. She held it against his mouth with such force, that his face quickly began to turn an awful shade of purple and red.

"Shut your mouth! YOU'RE THE BIGGEST UNSOPHISTICATED TWIT OUT OF ALL OF US!" she bellowed before releasing him from her deathly grip.

Poor Irvine almost collapsed on the floor. "Oh my…the stench…can't…breathe…"

"YOU WANT SOME MORE!?" she threatened. Irvine lay silent on the floor; he certainly did not want another round of inhaling her rotten sock stink.

Squall rolled his eyes. He knew his friends were right. But he ached inside to see her, which annoyed him. It irritated him so badly that he wanted to hit something! Break something! He couldn't believe how desperate he felt to see this girl.

_What the hell is wrong with me!? Since when do I need a girl so much anyway!? Since when was I even NICE to girls!? ARGH!_

"Fine, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens at school tomorrow" he spoke, his tone void of emotion.

**Authors Notes: **Thank you to all who have reviewed since my last post. I know the time between my updates is horribly long, and I am sorry for that! I promise I haven't forgotten about this story, I am still striving towards finishing it, but I feel as though it has quite a way to go and many more chapters to come! I work full time, and it's so hard to find the time to just sit down and write these days, as soon as I get home from work, I eat dinner, shower, then I have to tend to my 4 guinea pigs O_O and god, do they make a mess. Haha! Anyway, thank you for sticking with me! And please continue to read and review, your feedback does mean a lot to me, what more can I say! I love you all! Take care until next time heheh


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